Talk:Pablo Neruda

A brilliant person. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.88.88.203 (talk) 01:05, 1 August 2017 (UTC)

Personal life Contradiction
"Neruda had one daughter, Malva Marina Trinidad (1934–1943), living in Gouda, The Netherlands. She died at age eight in 1942." <-- This sentence contradicts itself (did she die in 1943 or 1942?) and the earlier Spanish Civil War subheading that says she was born in Madrid.Staticshakedown (talk) 17:43, 1 May 2010 (UTC)


 * Neruda married Marietje Antonia Hagenaar (whom he called Maruca, although the article names her Maryka Antonieta Hagenaar Vogelzang, Maryka is probably a basterdisation of Marijke, a common Dutch name, she is usually referred to as Maruca Reyes, Vogelzang was her mothers maiden name, so referring to her as Vogelzang is not correct), an Indonesian-Dutch woman, on 6 december 1930. Neruda was appointed as Chilean consul in Madrid, where his daughter was born in 1934. The daughter, Malva Marina, had hydrocephalus. As far as I am aware she was his only child. The child was taken on by a foster family in Gouda, where she died aged 8. I am planning to visit the cemetery in Gouda where she lies buried in June 2018, I will see if I can find the grave and post a picture. Although gravestones are not proof, it is the best I can do. Maruca and Neruda probably seperated in 1936 although their divorce is registered in 1942. Maruca died, alone, on 27 March 1965, aged 65. Pauline Slot, a Dutch author, wrote an interesting romantic novel in 2010 called En het vergeten zo lang in which Maruca features, I do not believe it has been translated into English. JHvW 06:33, 9 April 2018 (UTC)


 * See Le Monde 25 april 2019 article by Jean-Claude Vantroyen «Malva», une victime de l’oubli paternel ressuscitée par Hagar Peeters - Le premier roman empathique de la poète néerlandaise donne une voix à la fille répudiée de l’immense poète, penseur et activiste chilien Pablo Neruda).
 * The child was repudiated, mocked and abandoned by her father and died in utter indigence when she was 8 years old in war devastated and Nazi occupied Netherlands. 2001:818:E20E:300:79BA:A5A6:DED4:F8EF (talk) 19:16, 28 May 2023 (UTC)

Hello, the revisions to his wife's name make sense. It looks to me as though somehow two methods of spelling Dutch have crept in: "Marijke" looks like a modern Dutch spelling; the alternative use of the "y" instead of the "ij" looks antique (it sometimes appears as a "y" with two dots on top, effectively the dot on the i and the dot on j. and in various places one can see the ij displayed in capitals as a single character with looks like a "U" with a break at the bottom of the left hand downstroke). "Marietje" looks like an affectionate diminutive. To be dead sure, perhaps a mother-tongue Dutch speaker would be able to comment?! Foiled circuitous wanderer (talk) 09:36, 22 April 2018 (UTC)


 * Fortunately I am native speaker of both Dutch and English. It is not uncommon for children to have one of their parents names as a diminutive. For example Juanita would be the daughter of Juan (meaning little Juan) and Anita would be the daughter of Anna (meaning little Anna). Marietje means little Marie (as in Mary). It was not uncommon for Dutch people to give their children diminutive names, even though the birth certificate may differ. In this case the birth certificate could say Marie, whereas in practice she would be called Marietje (possibly to distinguish her from her mother). There might also be a problem with naming issues. There are countries where you are known by your own name and your fathers name. For example Magnus Magnussen is Magnus son of Magnus. In the Icelandic phone directory he would appear as: Magnus, Magnussen. In other cultures a name of a parent could be included, as in Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum, Alice, daughter of Zino Rosenbaum. In Western countries it is usual that a woman takes on her husbands name followed by her own name (or the other way round) as in Jessica Ennis-Hill. Although it has occured that a husband takes on his wifes name as in Jon Kabat-Zinn (when he married Myla Zinn). In this case Marietje Antonia Hagenaar would be the Dutch maiden name, but in Chilean it is not unthinkable her name would be Maria Antonia Hagenaar Vogelzang. Why she would be called Marijke I do not know, but it could a case of reverse engineering. The spelling is also a cultural problem, in German an s and z would become a ß (ringel s). Many domain names change ö to oe. Y is a difficult letter in many languages. In Dutch it is known as a Greek Y, whereas ij is known as a long y, to distinguish it from ei, the short y. JHvW 11:45, 22 April 2018 (UTC)

Neruda's pseudonym
This topic has been revived from the archives since there has been no discussion about it. There seems to be considerable doubt that Neruda's pen name derived from Czech writer and poet Jan Neruda. Apparently Neruda never agreed to reveal the origin of his pseudonym and it seems that a journalist forced that theory. There is an interesting hypothesis published on the web by a Spanish physician. According to that the name derives from the violinist Wilma Neruda which he admired a lot. Unfortunately the following article by Enrique Robertson is only written in German,spanish and French

Article by Enrique Robertson --Moroderen (talk) 07:56, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Several have pointed that Neruda may have known of Wilma Neruda when he was assuming his pen name, but in his memoirs, he admits it was for Jan Neruda and how he had once placed flowers at a statue of Jan while traveling in Czechoslovakia. But still, perhaps he did get it from the violinist, Neruda wasn't always exactly honest in his memoirs Eizmarcos (talk) 01:27, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Quote from Weekly Standard
What was tagged as a "full English translation" was in fact anything but, as anybody who can read the Spanish original can tell: it was a clumsy translation of disconnected passages (some of them, including "Malenkov will continue his work", in the voice of a character in the poem) that have been deceptively collated. Feketekave (talk) 11:05, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

Bibliography?
A chronological, complete list of (at least major) works toward the end of the article seems in my recollection to be pretty standard Wikipedia practice for authors/artists/etc., as well as a pretty useful reference. 74.74.251.190 (talk) 04:35, 13 August 2008 (UTC)


 * true! I was looking for exactly the same. would be nice if someone, who has some time, could include it. :D --helohe (talk)  01:20, 30 December 2009 (UTC)

What about the poetry?
The article is an excellent description of his life but not a word about his poetry. What does it mean? Has there been critical reviews? What are the themes? Did he have a poetic theory? Why should I read him? Why was he said to be the most important poet of the 20th century? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.172.186.229 (talk) 19:37, 25 April 2009 (UTC)


 * You've said it!!! Too funny to read in the midsection that, at that point, Neruda had a worldwide reputation as a poet, and yet we are told he published only one book!!! LOL —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.85.5.20 (talk) 08:40, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Borges
Seems to me that the quote from Borges is awfully long, to the point of being quite disproportionate to its importance. - Jmabel | Talk 04:05, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I do not understand this
Pablo Neruda was credited for one of Hitler's greatest downfalls, the "Literary Attack" or "Punch to the Face" as some called it, that was believed to contribute to his suicide. Artist Pablo Picasso was granted credit for the action, and Pablo Neruda wouldn't be awarded it for decades to come from Picasso's confession.

Is this real? It seems like a hoax. If it is real -- there should be some explanation. Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by JustinMarst (talk • contribs) 14:18, 27 March 2010 (UTC)

Paragraph 2
The second paragraph (of the introductory material) seems to be more or less a disparate hodgepodge of information, with most or all of the points unrelated to one another. Can this get some attention maybe? Thanks, Bob the ducq (talk) 15:28, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Legacy section
I suggest we cut the "Legacy" section. It is mostly a list of media inspired by Neruda's works. Every famous artist has hundreds of people who are inspired by their work. The list is not comprehensive or notable, in my view. WP:TRIV says "Trivia sections should be avoided." Any objections? ThanksSpanglej (talk) 04:12, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

Films and Television Section: Truly, Madly, Deeply
In the film "Truly, Madly, Deeply", Nina's dead husband recites Neruda's poem "The Dead Woman" (from The Captain's Verses). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.245.2.26 (talk) 01:59, 9 October 2010 (UTC)

What is a Chilean Communist Poet?
Or a Communist Poet for that matter? Even if he was a Communist, does it have to appear "Chilean Communist Poet?" Is there another type of poet, or Chilean Poet, that calls for the distinction "Chilean Communist Poet?" Are there "Chilean Egalitarian Poets," or perhaps "Chilean Plutarchian Poets?" I don't know. I'm just asking. Cheers. 74.101.163.144 (talk) 15:38, 24 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Neruda was a Communist Party senator and politically active for much of his life, that is why it is mentioned in the lead. Maybe the juxtaposition of the three words in this way isn't helpful. Span (talk) 21:37, 24 March 2011 (UTC)

Copyright violation?
the poem "curse" is quoted in its entirety here. I believe that is a copyright violation.Mercurywoodrose (talk) 04:28, 17 July 2011 (UTC)
 * It's removed. Thanks for the flag. Span (talk) 04:47, 17 July 2011 (UTC)

Márquez quotation
In The Fragrance of Guava, a collection of conversations between Gabriel García Márquez and Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza, first published in 1982, Márquez describes Neruda as "the greatest poet of the 20th century — in any language." That is the original source of that statement, which has been quoted, unsourced, by the Washington Post, by All Things Considered on NPR, and most recently, in the New Directions paperback edition of Love Poems. But how exactly to cite that original source in a Wikipedia article, I will leave to established editors. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.27.41.134 (talk) 16:35, 4 August 2011 (UTC)


 * ¡Gracias! I've added the source you provided to the article. Gamaliel (talk) 16:39, 4 August 2011 (UTC)

Is Pablo Neruda poisoned?
Croatian writer Giancarlo Kravar: A judge in Chile has requested the exhumation of the remains of the poet Pablo Neruda in the investigation of his death 1973rd year. Famous Nobel laureate died twelve days after the military coup in 11th September 1973. Gen. Augusto Pinochet overthrew President Salvador Allende. Neruda died at the age of 69 years and his family has always claimed that he died in a hospital in Santiago of advanced prostate cancer. However, Chile is 2011. opened an investigation on suspicion that he was poisoned, according to the BBC.78.3.212.201 (talk) 18:14, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Horrible photo in infobox
There are many far more complimentary pictures of him. For a Nobel prize winning poet, a better picture could be found. 2602:306:BDA0:97A0:466D:57FF:FE90:AC45 (talk) 04:44, 6 June 2014 (UTC)

Birth Name
Which is it, NEFTALÍ RICARDO REYES BASOALTO as it is on this page (and in the Britannica Encyclopaedia) or RICARDO ELIÉCER NEFTALÍ REYES BASOALTO as it is on the Spanish Wikipedia page? --Nazroon (talk) 18:56, 26 February 2015 (UTC)

I would like to know this, too (although it's now been changed to the way the Spanish page has it). Surprised that something so important about such a well-known figure isn't nailed down definitively. What was the source with the discrepancy in the Spanish page? 75.80.183.193 (talk) 18:13, 8 June 2017 (UTC)


 * We can accept there are two versions of his birth name. This is not particularly unusual, especially in Catholic Hispanic tradition that long ago. We should note in the lead that Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto is an alternate name. Biographers differ:
 * A definitive biography uses the longer version.
 * Nobelprize.org gives the shorter version. YoPienso (talk) 19:19, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

Rape claim
AFAIK, Neruda was never accused of rape during his lifetime. What we have is an account in his memoirs (and only in his memoirs) of a possibly ambiguous incident, which, while non violent, clearly troubled him decades later. This was picked up a few months ago by Slavoj Zizek -- who probably would not be offended at being called a provocateur -- and bounced back and forth in the press. (Odd, given that the account had been there for all to read.)

Without any implication of whether "silence does not mean consent" is or is not an anachronism when referring to South Asia in 1929, would it not be far more NPOV to say something along the lines of: a sexual encounter described in his memoirs has recently been described as a rape? Feketekave (talk) 21:46, 28 December 2016 (UTC)

"The military coup supported and financed by the US"
In its current form, the article states: "the military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet on September 11, supported and financed by the United States saw Neruda's hopes for a Socialist Chile destroyed.."

First, the source points to a Peter Kornbluh/National Security Archive page that discusses CIA support for the Pinochet regime in 1975...two years after the coup. The source does not show in any way that the US supported or financed the coup.

Second, this isn't the appropriate article to discuss this controversial topic, as it can't be covered adequately in this article that's supposed to be about Neruda, not the coup. Suffice to say that the coup had terrible results but during his time in office, Allende lost support of many sectors of civil society including some socialist and communist groups. In other words, it makes no sense to specify that the US supported the coup when the list of Chilean actors that supported it is several pages long.

Finally, Neruda's dream was for a communist Chile, not socialist. Further, the list of heads of state of Chile from the 1920s to 1970s shows political control of the country shifting as regularly as a pendulum (sometimes democratically, sometimes undemocratically). Several socialist-leaning parties or socialist coalitions held the office, including the Radical Party and the Democratic Alliance.

--108.48.11.48 (talk) 11:42, 6 January 2017 (UTC)

Well, really. Of course the coup was supported and partly financed by the CIA; this is admitted nowadays even by Chileans who still defend it. I'd agree that a better source is needed here.

This is not the place to discuss the virtues and defects of Allende's government. Let us just say that: (a) it would be nonsensical to call pre-Allende Chile "socialist", (b) "socialist" is a word that Neruda would have used himself (as did members of the Socialist and Communist parties, indistinctly). Feketekave (talk) 15:33, 7 January 2017 (UTC)


 * I agree that this isn't the place to discuss the virtues and defects of Allende's government. Nor is it the place to discuss the level of the US's involvement in the Chilean coup. I'm not sure I understand how or why Neruda, a vocal advocate for communism in Chile, would have dreamed of a socialist Chile. Maybe there's something I don't see. Unless I am missing something, as a Stalinist, Neruda would have viewed socialism as a stepping stone on the revolutionary path to full communism. --108.48.11.48 (talk) 06:16, 9 January 2017 (UTC)

Nobel prize date is incorrect
Neruda won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1971, not 2016.  Mark C 155.136.158.11 (talk) 12:28, 27 February 2018 (UTC)

Cause of Death
The information in the article about his death seems to me intentionally confusing. The current state of investigation is this: []:

- He had prostrate cancer, but that was not the cause of death. Note: Many older men suffer from prostrate cancer, but because of slow growth, they usually die due to other causes.

- In 2017, a panel of scientists found deadly amounts of botulinum toxin. They wanted to examine soil samples to exclude the possibility of contamination, which was hindered by authorities until recently.

- 2003:E5:171F:44E0:61DD:6FEA:570D:B054 (talk) 10:09, 6 January 2022 (UTC)
 * Telesur is not a credible source, refer to WP:RSP. (CC) Tb hotch ™ 03:46, 7 January 2022 (UTC)


 * The prostate cancer is mentioned twice, some editing is needed.Xx236 (talk) 10:34, 16 February 2023 (UTC)

Popular culture
Nina Morena, a song by Duncan Browne on his album Streets of Fire contains (parts of) a poem of Pablo Neruda 2A01:CB10:8E53:9700:8934:39A8:8D66:A050 (talk) 20:27, 2 September 2022 (UTC)


 * "This article may contain indiscriminate, excessive, or irrelevant examples. Please improve the article by adding more descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples." (CC) Tb hotch ™ 02:54, 9 September 2022 (UTC)